easyJet Boss Warns of Route Cull

The rising price of fuel could lead a number of the world’s airlines to cut their expansion plans and cancel some of their not so well performing routes. That was the warning from easyJet Chief Executive Officer Carolyn McCall this week, who said that “brutal” decisions will now need to be taken on network development. “You will see us being much more brutal about what routes work and what routes don't," she explained ahead of the launch of the airline’s longest route between London Gatwick and Amman on March 27. “We’re going to be very, very tough about routes that aren’t working,” she added.

This has already become evident with the cancellation of the airline’s flights to the Finnish capital Helsinki. The airline says that due to a “lack of demand” it will suspend services to Helsinki from Manchester on June 13, from London Gatwick on June 22 and from Paris CDG on July 7, and other routes also face the axe.

But network growth will continue, and easyJet has announced further expansion in the UK market over the past week. A new London Gatwick – Sicily link will be added from June 25, while the addition of a sixth aircraft at Manchester will enable new links to Bilbao (June 17), Belfast International (twice weekly from October) Berlin Schoenefeld (five times weekly from October) and Madrid (five times weekly from November 2) to be added. A new three times a week Glasgow to Jersey link will be established between June and September, while an extra daily rotation will be added to London from the Scottish airport. The carrier will also end a recent trial at Belfast City George Best Airport in Northern Ireland. It moved its London Luton route from Belfast International to City Airport last year but has confirmed that from May 6 it will revert back. “Moving to Belfast City Airport was always a trial, but in over a year we have seen no tangible benefits,” said Ali Gayward, Commercial Manager, easyJet. "Our 20 other routes operate from Belfast International and we will now consolidate our overall operation by re-establishing our Luton flights from there as well.”

The airline is also expanding its network into new markets, most notably the launch this week of flights between London and Amman. In the past year around 10,000 O&D passengers travelled to the Jordanian capital from London and Carolyn McCall expects easyJet to secure a strong percentage of both the business and leisure traffic between the two cities, and is looking to add flights from other European bases. The average fare per one-way sector was $410 prior to easyJet’s arrival on the route.

Source: Flightbase (April 14-20, 2011); IATA BSP (February 2010 – January 2011)

Amman has seen tremendous growth not just as a destination but as a developing hub in the Middle East. Its Queen Alia International Airport has witnessed phenomenal expansion with a 40 per cent rise in passengers and a 65 per cent growth in weekly flights over the past three years. In 2007 it handled just 3.8 million passengers on 400 weekly flights, but last year it reached 5.4 million with around 650 weekly services, following the arrival of 12 additional carriers.

Source: Flightbase (April 14-20, 2011)

Local carrier, and oneworld alliance member, Royal Jordanian dominates capacity at the airport but Jordan Aviation, which currently offers just charter flights, will take up a much more significant standing after recently being awarded an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) for scheduled services.

"We are extremely pleased with our 2010 traffic performance, in which passenger traffic shattered the previous record of 4.8 million in 2009, reaching 5.4 million passengers for the first time in our history,” said Curtis Grad, Chief Executive Officer, Airport International Group, the private Jordanian company that manages the airport.

A $750 million rehabilitation and expansion project is currently underway at the airport, which includes the construction of a new passenger terminal that will better position it to serve the new demand stimulated by easyJet and other new carriers. "The construction of the new terminal is witnessing tangible progress; with the main terminal and first stage of the passengers piers due to open in mid-2012, which will revolutionise the airport and better serve our rapidly growing market" added Curtis Grad.

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NOTE: Schedule data extracted from Flightbase for week commencing April 14, 2011; Traffic data extracted from IATA BSP system for the year ending January 2011.